When it comes to our under­stand­ing of human intel­li­gence, for too long, there has been a mis­match between the­ory and prac­tice. The­o­ret­i­cally, the two main threads run­ning through def­i­n­i­tions of intel­li­gence have been (a) adap­ta­tion to the envi­ron­ment, and (b) the cog­ni­tive, affec­tive, and voli­tional char­ac­ter­is­tics that enable that adap­ta­tion. Prac­ti­cally, IQ tests mea­sure an impor­tant but lim­ited slice of intel­lec­tual func­tion­ing in a very lim­ited test­ing envi­ron­ment. Why such a disconnect?

Intel­li­gence tests were born out of neces­sity. Read the rest of this entry »

Mas­ter­ing emo­tions by sharp­en­ing mem­ory? It just might work (Los Ange­les Times):

“Emo­tional reg­u­la­tion — the abil­ity to take neg­a­tive feel­ings and rec­og­nize, accept and chan­nel them prop­erly — is an Achilles’ heel for many peo­ple, but espe­cially for those with anxiety-related dis­or­ders, Read the rest of this entry »

Is the Inter­net Really Mak­ing Us Dumber? (Der Spiegel):

“In Ger­many, scores increase by about 3 IQ points each decade. In fact, the tests have to be adjusted every few years to keep up. The test cur­rently used for chil­dren is called the WISC-IV. A per­son claim­ing to have an IQ of 130 needs to spec­ify which test gen­er­ated that result: WISC-III? WISC-IV? The aston­ish­ing upward trend Read the rest of this entry »

A new arti­cle in The New York Times, Can You Make Your­self Smarter, pro­vides a great overview of work­ing mem­ory and cog­ni­tive training:

- “We see atten­tion and work­ing mem­ory as the car­dio­vas­cu­lar func­tion of the brain,” Jaeggi says.“If you train your atten­tion and work­ing mem­ory, you increase your basic cog­ni­tive skills that help you for many dif­fer­ent com­plex tasks.” Read the rest of this entry »

Although med­ica­tion treat­ment and behav­ior ther­apy pro­vide short-term symp­to­matic relief for chil­dren with ADHD, such gains rarely per­sist after treat­ment ends. Because these treat­ments are infre­quently sus­tained over extended peri­ods (most chil­dren on med­ica­tion do not even remain on it for a year), few indi­vid­u­als with ADHD receive effec­tive treat­ment over the long-term. This may explain why Read the rest of this entry »

Let us share below a list of 40 com­mon brain fit­ness, brain health, brain train­ing ques­tions that we will make sure to address dur­ing the upcom­ing online course, How to Be Your Own Brain Fit­ness Coach in 2012 (starts March 7th). The ques­tions are sequenced by their approx­i­mate order of appear­ance in the syl­labus. We look for­ward to an engag­ing, inter­ac­tive and valu­able expe­ri­ence! ***Please remem­ber that course reg­is­tra­tion ends on Sun­day, March 4th.***

Top 40 Brain Fit­ness & Train­ing Questions

1. How can one define brain fitness
2. What is link between stress, focus and memory
3. Does “brain age” even exist
4. How to enhance over­all men­tal pro­duc­tiv­ity, vs just IQ
5. Is there some “ceil­ing” to my improve­ment or can I always try more things
6. How brain func­tions evolve with age. What improves, what declines, what should I be pay­ing atten­tion to Read the rest of this entry »

Kudos to Patri­cia Cohen for one of the best arti­cles I have read in The New York Times in a long time: A Sharper Mind, Mid­dle Age and Beyond, by Patri­cia Cohen. These are a few quotes — please do read the arti­cle in full, it is worth it.

• “Some peo­ple are much bet­ter than their peers at delay­ing age-related declines in mem­ory and cal­cu­lat­ing speed. What researchers want to know is why. Why does your 70-year-old neigh­bor score half her age on a mem­ory test, while you, at 40, have the mem­ory of a senior cit­i­zen? Read the rest of this entry »